CHAPTER XIII.
OUTWARD BOUND.
The _Revenge_ lay at anchor in the midst of many merchant ships,pinnaces, and fly-boats,--a very gallant ship, with her carved andgilded bulwarks, with her tall, stout masts, with her silken,swallow-tailed banners flying from her masts and yards, her greatstandard, bearing the royal arms, at her forecastle. At her maintop theglorious flag of St George's Cross was fluttering in the breeze--theflag under which so many great seamen had beforetime traded, explored,and fought in England's honour, that Drake and Cavendish had borne roundthe world, that Lancaster carried to the East Indies and Frobisher tothe far north; the flag that had blown triumphant against the Spaniardsoff Gravelines three years before this time, and that was destined soonto wave with less good fortune though not with less glory over theshot-torn wreck of the _Revenge_ herself.
Gilbert had been on board many times during the past two weeks while thebusiness of preparation and victualling was in progress. He had exploredthe vessel from stem to stern, from the high, square forecastle, wherethe bowsprit rose steeply upward, and carried at its outer end a smallmast with its sprit-topsail; and back aft to the sloping quarter-deckand the higher poop-deck, where a narrow strip of railed platform ranathwart from side to side above the water. He had been below to themain-deck where the heaviest guns were carried, and below that again tothe lower deck that was dark and airless as a pit. He had even climbedthe tall main-mast and stood upon the gallery, whence in time of battlethe ship's archers and musketeers were wont to shoot down upon theirenemy alongside. He would willingly have climbed the bonaventure mastalso, and crept up to the high peak of the long lateen yard that toweredaloft above the ship's stern lantern, but one of the men in authorityhad warned him against the danger of such an attempt.
Now, when he mounted the ladder at the vessel's side and passed throughthe gangway upon the main-deck, he was met by Roland Grenville, who wasarrayed in all the bravery of a new shining corselet, a pair of newleathern trunk-hose, a coarse blue cloth doublet, and a wide seaman'shat. Roland greeted him heartily, bade him salute the quarter-deck, andthen conducted him below to the large cabin, reserved for what were inthose days called gentlemen volunteers, most of whom were young men ofgood families, who entered the naval service not as actual officers ormidshipmen but as captain's servants. For in Queen Elizabeth's time itwas customary for each captain of a man-of-war to be allowed twopersonal servants for every fifty of his crew. Such servants orcabin-boys were almost invariably recruited from among the captain'srelations, friends, or followers. Sir Richard Grenville had in thismanner appointed his own son Roland and Master Gilbert Oglander.
When the two lads had eaten some ship's biscuits and bacon, and drunkbetween them a tankard of small ale, they went out upon the upper deckand loitered there for a while, until Gilbert requested his companionto show him over the ship and tell him about her guns. Young Grenville,having already spent some three years upon the sea, could point out allmatters of interest, and explain the uses of all maritime instrumentsand implements of warfare. He was himself a very skilful gunner, and hetook especial delight in showing Gilbert the ship's ordnance.
The _Revenge_ mounted forty "great ordnance" of brass, includingcannon-royal, demi-cannon, and culverins for firing a broadside. Ofthese the cannon-royal were the largest, having a range of a mile'sdistance, weighing four tons, and being twelve feet in length. Theirmouths gaped through the round portholes of the main-deck. Thedemi-cannon were a foot longer, but a ton lighter. But in many parts ofthe vessel there were other smaller swivel-guns, such as sakers,falcons, minions, fowlers, and murdering-pieces. The murdering-pieceswere mounted one on the after part of the forecastle and the other onthe fore part of the poop, and they pointed inboard, so that their shotmight be discharged into the midst of the enemy when attempting to boardher.
"But these guns in especial are not ofttimes used," explained RolandGrenville, "for you must know, Oglander, that in these days oursea-fights come but seldom to a matter of boarding. 'Tis rarely I haveseen great execution done with them; no, nor even with the bow andarrow, small-shot, or the sword. I am not sure, indeed, that in thewhole course of the Armada fight there was a single occasion on whichthe Spaniards gained a footing on an English deck. The battle waschiefly gained by our great artillery breaking down masts and yards,tearing, raking, and bilging the enemy's ships."
There were many things for Gilbert to see and to admire: the racks wherethe arquebuses were kept, the bows of divers shapes and sizes and thecases of arrows, the pikes, the granadoes, the piles of hollow brassballs and earthen pots covered with quarter bullets and filled withgunpowder, which, as Roland explained, would make an incredibleslaughter in a crowd of Spaniards; the stacks of crossbar, langrel andchain shot, and the many implements for wild-fire, wherewith to strikeburning into a ship's side to fire her. And, finally, the powdermagazines and the rows of hanging cartridge-cases, in which, during anaction, the ship's boys were wont to carry up the gunpowder to thegunners.
They went forward into the seamen's quarters, where they found a motleycrew of mariners--many of them well-tried voyagers with gray hairs andweather-beaten faces, many burly men of war, who bore in their scarredcheeks and broken limbs the traces of bygone battles. Some were younglads starting full joyously on their first enterprise, and among them,too, were many lawless fellows, pirates and robbers, who had been takenout of Plymouth prison and forced upon the ship, in the foolish beliefthat when removed from the scenes of their past misdeeds they wouldchange into good and peaceful servants. The crew had been on board sometwo days, and now they were lying about in lazy groups, regalingthemselves with the ale that had been served out to them, making abetter acquaintance with each other, and boasting of the great thingsthey had done, and the yet greater things they expected to do in thiscoming voyage.
When Roland and Gilbert entered the cabin, one Edward Webbe, a gunner,of London, was telling of his adventures in foreign lands. A man of someforty years was he, but he looked much older by reason of the privationsand perils through which he had gone.
"Moreover," he was saying, "in the land of Egypt, near to the river ofNile, there are seven mountains builded on the outside like unto thepoint of a diamond, which mountains were builded in King Pharaoh's timefor to keep corn in, and they are mountains of great strength. In thatsame river of Nile there be long fishes that are of twelve foot long,with marvellous great mouths and long tails, and hides hard as the soleof my boot. These fishes are so subtle that, swimming near theshore-side, they will pull men and women suddenly into the river anddevour them."
"Why, they be sharks, surely," remarked one who sat near him.
"Nay," corrected Jacob Hartop from the dark corner where he was sittingmumbling a ship's biscuit. "I have seen such animals myself out inVirginia, where we called them alligators. But, prithee, continue withyour recital, neighbour. Did ye not say that ye had been to the land ofPrester John?"
"Yea," proceeded Edward Webbe; "and this Prester John of whom I spakebefore is a king of great power and keepeth a very bountiful court,after the manner of that country, and hath every day to serve him at histable sixty kings, wearing leaden crowns on their heads, and these servein the meat to Prester John's table. And continually the first dish ofmeat set upon the table is a dead man's skull, clean picked and laid inblack earth; putting him in mind that he is but earth, and that he mustdie and shall become earth again."
"Ay, a marvellous country truly," interrupted Hartop, "as I do know fullwell, who have been there. And I doubt not, Master Webbe, that, havingtravelled in those lands, you have also known somewhat of the Turks,eh?"
"Right well have I known them," returned Webbe with a rueful head-shake."And because I was a Christian, and because the Turk had no cause to useme in my office of gunnership, I was imprisoned in Constantinople, whereI found two thousand other prisoners and captives, Christians all ofthem, who were pinned up against stone walls, locked fast in ironc
hains, grievously pinched, with extreme penury. And I do avow that manytimes we wished for death rather than in such misery to live, andgrieved at our hard hap that the wars had not ended us ere we camethither."
"Ay, right well I know such misery," said Jacob Hartop rising from hisseat, and, thrusting forward his bared left arm he added: "Look you atthis, neighbour!" He pointed with one finger at a depression in hiswrist, which showed where the iron chains had been bound. As he stoodforward he caught sight of Roland Grenville and Gilbert Oglander in thedoorway, and he touched his gray forelock in salutation. At the samemoment there came the shrill sound of a whistle from the main-deck.
"'Tis the muster-call," cried Roland Grenville. "Come, my lads, tumbleup, one and all!" and he waited by the door as they all filed past him,and smiled as he regarded their strangely-assorted attire. Many wereraggedly clothed; some looked as if they had but lately come from offthe ploughed fields, others still wore their fishermen's jackets, thatyet had clinging to them the shining scales of the herring; and othersagain were gaily set out in the bravery of new suits of doublet and hoseand clean ruffs and long mariners' boots. Gilbert Oglander had gone outbeyond the door to watch them take their respective places in ranks uponthe upper-deck, but young Grenville remained behind until the last ofthem had passed out. He glanced into the cabin they had left to assurehimself that none had remained, and in one of the far corners, which wasin deep shadow, he observed a movement. He called out, believing forthe moment that one of the men lay there dazed with over-much ale, butthere was no answer, and the dark form that he had taken for a bundle ofhumanity was silent and still. He stepped towards it and prodded it withhis foot. There was no response, and he saw only a heavy seaman's cloakand the corner of a biscuit bag.
"Tut!" said he to himself. "I could almost have sworn 'twas a man lyingthere. And yet I might have seen that 'twas too small." And he turned tothe door with a light laugh and went out upon the open deck.
Scarcely had he turned his back when the bundle moved yet again, acorner of the cloak was raised, and a pair of bright eyes peered outfrom a round boyish face, and a boyish voice murmured:
"Dear heart, I thought he'd discovered me! 'Twas Master Grenville, as Ilive! Lord send he cometh not back ere the ship hath begun to sail!"
Sir Richard Grenville had come on board, having spent some hours thatafternoon in consultation with the admiral and the various captains ofthe squadron; and now when his own ship's company had been mustered hestood at the forward rail of the quarter-deck looking down at the sea offaces on the upper deck below him. His captain and lieutenants, arrayedin their best, stood apart from him, while the ship's preacher in hissombre black gown and white ruffle and scholar's cap sat near on thecarriage of the murderer-gun, sedately turning over the leaves of hisprayer-book.
The crew were all ranked in order, according to their several stations.The warrant-officers stood in groups apart from the seamen, for theywere persons of great importance on board. The sailing-master, AmbrosePennington, and his mates, who were responsible for the navigation ofthe ship, were indeed next in rank to the lieutenants; the corporal wasalso a great man, for it was his duty to look after the small-arms andmusketeers' equipment, and to exercise the men-at-arms. Themaster-gunner and his mates, of whom one was Jacob Hartop and anotherEdward Webbe, had the duty of keeping the guns in good order, of seeingto their tackle, and also of looking after the powder-room or magazine,and the gun-room, where the small-arm ammunition was stored. Themaster-carpenter and his mates were to attend to the repairs and generalstate of the vessel's hull, to see to the plugging of shot-holes inaction, the pumps and caulking, and the masts and yards, while theboatswain and his mates had charge of the ropes, rigging, cables,anchors, sails, and flags, superintending the men at their stations,setting the watches and carrying out punishments. Then, too, there werethe purser, the quarter-masters, and the swabber. This last officer hadthe work of seeing to the ship being kept clean within and without abovewater, and he was answerable for the men keeping their persons clean.
The positions held by the members of the crew were in those days as manyand various as in our own navy. The surgeon was not accounted of highrank, his wages being but twenty shillings a month, which was the sameamount as that received by the trumpeter. There were drummers, cooks,yeomen of the sheets, yeomen of powder, stewards, armourers, and manyother qualifications; and lastly, there were the seamen and gromets, orship's boys. The whole ship's company of the _Revenge_ numbered twohundred and fifty all told.
Sir Richard Grenville inspected them all from where he stood. His eyessearched into each man's face as he answered to his name called out bythe purser from his roll, and if there was aught of doubt as to theman's appearance of fitness, he was bidden to stand forward so that thegeneral might have a nearer sight of him, and, if need were, questionhim. But all had been well chosen in so far as their bodily health couldbe judged; and if some did indeed appear to be rough and ill-kempt andof an idle sort, Sir Richard still passed them, knowing full well thatrogues do ofttimes prove to be good and true men when 'tis a question offighting for England's glory and advancement on the seas.
"And now, my men," said their leader when the roll had come to an end,"I would say a word to ye ere I dismiss ye to your quarters. We arebound, as ye all doubtless know, to the islands of the Azores, where'tis our purpose to intercept and lay capture to certain of theSpaniards' treasure-ships coming back to Spain from the Indies. My LordThomas Howard is our chief and admiral, to lead the expedition, by theappointment of her most gracious Majesty the Queen--"
"God bless her!" cried someone from the midst of the crowd, and the crywas taken up by many voices repeating the words "God bless the Queen!"
"But aboard this ship, and for the continued honour of this ship, whichhath already done so much good service for England, ye are to understandthat your duty is one of constant and unvaried obedience to yourofficers, whose word is your law."
He paused for a moment, looking out over the water to the _Defiance_,whose anchors were already up, and whose sails were one by one takingthe wind.
"And," he went on, turning again to the men, "for as much as the goodsuccess and prosperity of every action doth consist in the due serviceand glorifying of God, and that not only our being and preservation butthe prosperity of all our actions and enterprises do immediately dependon His Almighty goodness and mercy, it is provided now as heretoforethat all the company, as well officers as others, shall duly repairevery day twice at the call of the ship's bell to hear public prayers tobe read, such as are authorized by the Church, and that in a godly anddevout manner, as good Christians ought. Finally, I would have you toobserve this ordinance, which hath ever been observed upon the shipswhich I have commanded, namely, that no man, be his provocationwhatsoever it may, shall swear by the name of God or use any profaneoath, or blaspheme His holy name."
He drew back a step and turned to the preacher.
"Give 'em a prayer, parson," said he; "but be brief, I adjure you, forwe must up anchor and be off."
At this Sir Richard took off his plumed hat and dropped it on the deckat his feet, and stood with his hands clasped before him and his headreverently bowed. His example was followed by his officers, and when thepreacher went forward to the rail of the little pulpit that was at thefront of the quarter-deck and held up his hands, the crowd upon theupper deck became suddenly silent. Each man bared his head and clappedhis rough right hand over his eyes, as the chaplain's solemn voice rangout with the words:
"_Oh, eternal Lord God, who alone spreadest out the heavens and rulest the raging of the sea; who hast compassed the waters with bounds until day and night come to an end; be pleased to receive into thy Almighty and most gracious protection the persons of us thy servants and the fleet in which we serve. Preserve us from the dangers of the sea and from the violence of the enemy, that we may be a safeguard unto our most gracious sovereign lady, Queen Elizabeth, and her dominions, and a security for such as p
ass the seas upon their lawful occasions; that the inhabitants of our Island may in peace and quietness serve thee our God: and that we may return in safety to enjoy the blessings of the land with the fruits of our labours, and with a thankful remembrance of thy mercies to praise and glorify thy holy name, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen._"
The parson remained with uplifted hands, Sir Richard Grenville looked upfor a moment.
"Enough, man," he said, "enough. George Fenner hath catted his anchor.Duffield is already under sail." But the parson did not heed him, and onhearing the words "_Our Father_" Grenville again assumed the attitude ofdevotion and waited until the final "_Amen_". Then turning to hiscaptain he gave a word of instruction, the word was passed down, andimmediately there was a hurry and bustle among the crew. Some climbed upto the yards and began to shake out the sails, others sped to thecapstans, while others attended to getting on board the ship's boats.
Lord Thomas Howard's flag-ship, the _Defiance_, led the way into theSound. She was followed closely by the great ship of Sir RobertCross--the _Bonaventure_. Then at some distance went Captain Fenner's_Lion_, Captain Vavasour's _Foresight_, and Captain Duffield's _Crane_.Some of the smaller vessels of the fleet, the private adventurers whichhad been contributed to the expedition by Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir GeorgeCarey, and other gentlemen, sailed out in the train. Among these werethe _George Noble_ of London, the _Pilgrim_ of Plymouth, and the _BarkRaleigh_.
"AY, BUT HOW CAME YE ABOARD, MY LAD?"]
The _Revenge_ was the last to leave Plymouth harbour, for, beingcommanded by the vice-admiral, her place was in the rear. But hersailing powers were greater than those of any other ship in thesquadron, and she might easily have overhauled her fastest consort hadher master so willed. Some of the heavily-laden victuallers wereovertaken even at the mouth of Plymouth Sound. One of them, the_Pilgrim_, was close beside her as they entered the open sea atsunset-time, and Gilbert Oglander, who was at the moment climbing downthe ladder stairs from the quarter-deck, paused in his descent andlooked over the bulwarks down upon her decks. He could see the faces ofher crew. He could see Captain Whiddon on her poop deck, pacing to andfro from rail to rail.
Gilbert was wondering why it was that seamen invariably had this habit,when suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by sounds from behind him onthe upper deck. He turned, and saw a little crowd of men at the foot ofthe main-mast. Some of them were laughing, others were loudly talking asthey bent over some object on the deck that seemed to be the cause oftheir concern. As Gilbert approached the crowd broke up, and heperceived old Jacob Hartop standing there holding a little boy by theear.
"Ay, but how came ye aboard, my lad?" Jacob was asking, looking into theboy's tearful face.
"In a boat, so please you, sir," replied the boy. "In the same boat withyourself, Master Hartop."
"Nay, but I saw you not," returned Jacob. "I saw you not, else, beassured, I'd have sent you back instanter to your mother. What think youthe poor soul will do when she findeth you have not come home?"
"I had but one thought," said the lad, looking up, "and that was to geton board the _Revenge_ with Master Gilbert Oglander."
It was at this moment that Gilbert entered the crowd and heard his namespoken. He glanced at the boy.
"Body o' me!" he cried. "Why, 'tis young Robin Redfern of Modburyvillage! How comes he here?"
"Ay, 'tis Robin himself, truly," said Jacob Hartop, turning at hearingGilbert's voice. "He hath a mind to fight for the Queen, he says, sosmuggled himself aboard. Master Roland Grenville found him stowed awaybelow, and hath now gone to inform Sir Richard. I saw the child myselfon Sutton quay, ay, and spake with him, but I'd no notion that he meantto follow us on board. 'Tis foolish in him, as I have told him, for alad so young is but an encumbrance on a ship of battle."
"Nay, but I mean to work," protested Robin. "I'll work hard. Sure therebe many things I can do, Master Hartop." And then as he saw Sir RichardGrenville emerging from one of the doors at the farther end of the deckhe began to cry very piteously, as though fearing that he must surely beseverely punished.
"What have we here?" demanded Sir Richard.
"So please your honour, 'tis a boy," explained one of the men.
"Ay, I can well see 'tis not a horse," said the admiral; and then plyingthe boy with many questions, and learning that he was from Modbury, heturned to Gilbert Oglander: "Take him into your personal charge, MasterOglander," said he. "Let him be your serving-boy, or a powder-boy, orwhat you like; and bid the purser enter him on the ship's books. As forhis mother, 'tis a pity for her that most concerns me, and I would haveyou inscribe a letter to her, and throw it overboard in a bottle, whichmay haply be picked up by some passing fishing-boat." And with that hestrolled back aft towards his cabin, where he remained secluded untillate on the following morning.
Now as Gilbert passed again along the deck he looked over to the land,as he had done many times already, in the hope of being able to make outthe towers of Modbury Manor in the far distance. Many a time had hestood in the upper room of one of those towers to watch the shipssailing outward from Plymouth Sound, and now for the first time he hopedto reverse the process and try to discover his home from the ship'sdeck. It was no very easy matter, in the fading light of the evening, toidentify any house so far away; but Modbury stood upon a height and wasprominent enough if one knew exactly where to look for it. At last,however, he descried the topmost tower above the trees; he could evensee the tall flag-staff, with the flag fluttering in the breeze. He kepthis eyes fixed upon the flag for many moments, believing that it hadbeen hoisted for his own benefit as a signal of farewell. But at last hebegan to realize that for some strange reason it had not been drawnfully up to the top of the staff--that indeed it had been hoistedhalf-mast high. And this, as he well knew, was a token of death. A pangof alarm shot through him; he felt suddenly very desolate and lonely.Again and again he turned his eyes upon the flag, hoping that he hadmade a mistake. As he stood there Roland Grenville passed near him.
"What, art home-sick so soon?" said he with a light laugh.
Gilbert was silent for a moment, and at length, pointing to the land, hesaid:
"Look to the flag on Modbury tower yonder. I beg you look at it and tellme if my sight deceiveth me. Is't not flying at the half-mast?"
"Ay, in very sooth, 'tis so," returned young Grenville. "I can see itplainly. Someone is surely dead--Ah, the trees hide it now!"
"Heaven send 'tis not my grandfather!" cried Gilbert. "I cannot believe'tis he, for I left him hale and well. And yet I can think of noneelse."
"Mayhap 'tis your uncle Jasper," suggested Roland.
But Gilbert shook his head, remembering Jasper's vigorous strength.
"No," he said; "it cannot be uncle Jasper."
"Then 'tis your cousin Philip, I warrant me," said Grenville. "The ladhath met with some mishap on the hare-brained journey that you told meof. Said you not that he went off on horseback, and that you had notheard news of him for two full days? 'Tis clearly he."
And arguing with himself that night as he lay in the ship's cabin,sleepless and sick at heart, Gilbert came to the conclusion that thiswas so. He surmised that Philip had been thrown from his horse, or hadcome into some quarrel with highway vagabonds and had been brought hometo Modbury dead. Little did he dream that Philip Oglander was now onboard the _Pearl_ on his way to Spain; little did he dream that hisgrandfather now lay dead in his great room at Modbury Manor; and aslittle did he dream that now at this same moment he was himself the onlyBaron Champernoun.
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